University of North Carolina Chapel Hill - Yackety Yack Yearbook (Chapel Hill, NC)

Page 31 text:

The University Site State. The only railroad accommodation is an eleven mile branch of the Southern Railway with a station a mile from the postofRce. The schedule and speed are so inconvenient that ten or twelve automobiles find profitable employ- ment carrying passengers between Chapel Hill and Durham, ten miles away. Two towTiships around Chapel Hill have recently voted substantial bond issues for a proposed railroad line from Greensboro direct through Chapel Hill, anil on Ijeyond to the coast. Chapel Hill has recently been connected with all the large cities and towns of the State by being on the East to West road through the State, thus making it convenient for automobilists. Present indications are that soon Chapel Hill wall re- J f I ' ' • r gain its old position as regards ■ss l .-,. accessibility. When the Uni- versity was founded the two main roads of the State crossed on the top of the Hill: the Petersburg to Pittsboro road, and the New Bern to Greens- boro road. Along these crude arteries of a primitive civiliza- tion flowed the commerce and intellect of a state. With the railroads came a change. The wagon roads lost their importance. When the North Carolina railroad was being laid out, two routes were under consideration, one by Chapel Hill and the other by Hillsboro. Better grades and the influence of the majority of the stockholders, who lived along the proposed Hillsboro route, caused the latter to be chosen. Eventually a branch was run into Carrboro. The tendency from the early fifties almost to the present has been to encourage isolation. The idea then prevalent was a selfish one. The University was con- sidered as a place of retirement to develop gentlemen of culture. It was the haven for the lucky few, and it was desirable to be cut off from the distractions and temptations of the busy world. Now a new spirit, which says that the Uni- versity belongs to the whole people, is sweeping over the institution, and there is a possibility of Chapel Hill being as easily reached as any town in North Carolina. This will be a great impetus to the present Extension Movement, and to the popularity and conseciuent value of the University.

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The University in Service to the People of the State SINCE the early times of its establishment the University has been serving the State of North Carolina. Students have all along, from 1795 to the present time, received within the familiar campus walls a training and an ambition which in later life have enabled them to become leaders, and in this capacity to mould and raise the hfe of the people of the State. This kind of serv- ice is best exemplified in the services rendered North Carolina by such men as lurphey, Wiley, Vance, and Aj ' cock. By strengthening these men in their for- mative years for the task of leadership, the University served the State effectively and well. This same kind of direct, helpful service is going on today. Young men are being trained in the University now who will in the next few years be leaders in North Carolina. But it is of another and different kind of service that this article desires to treat. It has been said that every State University ' s rightful work is twofold. As a part of a great State ' s educational system the University should set stand- ards and train men vithin its o vn walls, and it should carry its knowledge out into the State and apply it it in creative helpfulness. In this latter class of work the University of North Carolina is deeply interested at the present time. To such an extent is this the case that under the inspiring leadership of Presi- dent E. K. Graham the ambition of the University — which is daily being ham- mered by a constructive program into an actuality — demands that the University have a direct and helpful relation with every community and every person in North Carolina. A truly statewide ministry of service, and nothing short of this is planned. In order to carry out this purpose, the University has established its Bureau of Extension. Working in the main through this Bureau, the University is find- ing its way into the schools, the churches, the homes, the factories, and the busi- ness houses everjTvhere in North Carolina. The work of the Bureau has been separated into several divisions bj ' the Director, Dr. L. R. Wilson, and these will be taken up in order, together with other features of University activity